Join more than 600 Marylanders who are growing oysters to help Save the Bay! The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) will host a series of oyster gardening workshops, located around the Bay, starting August 18 in Annapolis, with the last workshop held on November 3 in St. Michaels.
Oysters are the Chesapeake Bay’s best natural filters – an adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day! They also provide essential habitat for fish and other Bay creatures. Unfortunately, today’s oyster population is estimated at only two percent of its original level. Oyster gardeners have a vital, hands-on role in helping to restore the Bay’s oyster population. So far this year, gardeners have grown and planted nearly a quarter of a million oysters in Maryland waters.
Workshop participants will learn how to grow oysters in small floats attached to backyard docks and piers. They will construct a floating “oyster garden” and receive seed oysters and instructions on how to care for the oysters until they grow to maturity in about nine months. After that time, participants return their mature oysters to CBF for transfer onto a nearby sanctuary in the Bay. Gardeners will then pick up new seed oysters and the hope is each gardener will continue to produce healthy adult oysters for years to come.
In preparation, gardeners attended a three-hour workshop where they will build a float or several cages in which to grow about 4,000 spat (young oysters). For about nine months, the gardeners tend to the oysters. The floats or cages provide maximum exposure to oxygen and plankton, helping the spat to grow faster than they would have in their natural habitat on the Bay bottom. These big, nine-month-old oysters have a greater chance of surviving once they are planted on sanctuary reefs than they would if taken directly from the oyster hatchery and planted.
The one-time cost for the workshop is $75, which includes all necessary float materials, educational information and 4,000 seed oysters. In addition, current oyster gardeners can pick up new oyster spat free of charge at any workshop and continue growing oysters for the next year.
For more information: http://www.cbf.org/action/outdoors/oysters.htm.
Posted: 8-23-2001
